Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen: The Last Magic Mirror : In which our heroes try to prepare for war but run into courtly politics, eventually gaining entry to the very heart of The Court of Winter (much to its kings displeasure). What the bloody hell just happened?! One Word spreads that Queen Mary is planning on declaring marshal law in order to insure that King Henry is captured. Queen Edane seems distressed, but uninterested in expending the effort to oppose the move. Summer's monarch is also paralyzed, but in a far more literal manner: He's in a coma. With King Albert constantly MIA, few remain to oppose the power-grab by Mary. Two Our Heroes travel to The Cavern to treat with Mary Bloodletter. She admits that soon the kingdom will be far more under her control, as God wills, but she may back off if they can produce Henry Carver for her. They agree. Three Our heroes head to Baron Crayle's office at Imperial College since they know he was in league with Henry. A search of his office leads to a rarely used trod through The Hedge to Osgiliath. Four Henry is in Osgiliath having a convention of Goblins, informing them that he has returned and that he heralds a change in the status quo. He offers the Goblins a place at the table and says he will reward them for every "Royal Scalp" they bring him. Our Heroes betray their location, and Henry summons a hailstorm with chunks as large as cars to try and subdue Our Heroes but they manage to flee back to Crayle's office bruised but alive. Five Our Heroes decide that the thing that would help the most is acess to the last magic mirror, the Mirror of Location. Asking around they learn that, legendarily, the mirror belonged to the Court of Winter. Gram decides to abuse his connection to Gloriana to get his hands on the mirror. Six Our Heroes arrange to meet the very excited and underage Gloriana at Hole. They also arrange for Prince Eddie to meet them, so he can act as witness and tell Queen Mary they actually found King Henry. They also assume they may have to drug both of them to get them to go wherever this mirror is. Seven Nellie gets Gloriana drunk and (falsely) tells her of Gram's great love for her. Perth dumps a triple load of ecstasy in Eddie's drink after Eddie says he's not going to go to any goddamned place the Winter Court holds power. After a goodly amount of time preping her, Gram asks her where the Mirror of History might be. To everyone's shock, she offers to take them to it. Eight Our Heroes are led by Gloriana to The Winter Palace, the heart of The Court of Winter. Its only entrance is horrifyingly in the servants quarters of Buckingham Palace. She passes through as the "granddaughter" of "kindly old Albert" who seems to be a butler in the household. Nine Our Heroes enter the Winter Palace, a ruin with rotten tapestries and faded text written in what appears to be Gallic. Gloriana leads them to the last magic mirror, the Mirror of Location|. They ask it to help them locate King Henry, and it shows them the King wandering through the gardens of Lowgate retrieving the cationic body of Baroness Crayle. The ruins of the Winter Palace seem to be psycho-actively linked to Gloriana, and the happier she gets, the cleaner the location becomes. Ten King Albert somberly enters the grand entryway of the Winter Palace and stalks slowly towards the back halls where our heroes are hiding. Gloriana tries to stop him but he whispers something to her that makes her step aside. Perth and Gram decide that hiding is not the smart thing to do and confront King Albert in the hall. Albert mournfully tells them that their intrusion will have terrible consequences. He curses them both with a near-catatonic sadness and sends them away, telling them they are Banished from the Winter Palace for all time. Eleven Gloriana tries to make arrangements to meet Gram later, but he tells her that not only does he not love her, but he never did and never will. She sobs uncontrollably as the group leaves the palace. Prince Eddie, lost in the throws of a drug-induced freak-out, gets on all fours and races into Hyde Park. Our Heroes don't have the heart to stop him. The World Famous London Daily Mirror For other articles see- London Daily Mirror ''Royal butler wanted: £15,000 salary, ability to work 45 hours a week and flexible to travel to Balmoral and Holyroodhouse essential'' The Queen has advertised for a trainee butler at the princely starting salary of £15,000-a-year. The successful applicant will be based at Buckingham Palace, but have to be willing to spend around two months away at other Royal residences, including Balmoral and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. They will also be expected to work 45 hours a week - although accommodation is provided 'for which there will be a salary adjustment.' According to a senior butler identified only as "Albert" a successful applicant must 'possess a friendly, polite and approachable disposition with the ability to be discreet and maintain confidentiality and show the proper dignity and respect at all times' as they wait hand-and-foot on the Royals and their guests. Albert went on to say that "unserious candidates sadly do not last, and frequently cause pain and embarrassment to their majesties. We do not tolerate such failures, I assure you." Though the pay is low, Royal butlers with the right pedigree and long service can command up to £100,000-a-year in the private sector. Questions... Questions that Need Some Form Of Written Response For other questions see- The Master Question List *Why is Mary intent on imposing martial law? *What is the strange writing on the walls of the Winter Palace? Category:Book Three